THE PIE KIND. .23 



nmg of the month of August they are seen in great numbers flying 

 together, and as the inhabitants would have us believe, following their 

 king, who is distinguished from the rest by the lustre of his plumage, 

 and that respect and veneration which is paid him. In the evening 

 they perch upon the highest trees of the forest, particularly one which 

 bears a red berry, upon which they sometimes feed, when other food 

 fails them. In what manner they breed, or what may be the number 

 of their young, as yet remains for discovery. 



The natives, who make a trade of killing and selling these birds to 

 the Europeans, generally conceal themselves in the trees where they 

 resort, and having covered themselves up from sight in a bower made 

 of the branches, they shoot at the birds with reedy arrows, and, as 

 they assert, if they happen to kill the king, they then have a good 

 chance for killing the greatest part of the flock. The chief mark by 

 which they know the king is by the ends of the feathers in his tail, 

 which have eyes like those of a peacock. When thoy have taken a 

 number of these birds, their usual method is to gut them, and cut off 

 their legs ; they then run a hot iron into the body, which dries up the 

 internal moisture, and filling the cavity with salts and spices, they sell 

 them to the Europeans for a perfect trifle. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE CUCKOO AND ITS VARIETIES. 



FROM a bird of which many fables have been reported, we pass 

 to another that has not given less scope to fabulous invention. The 

 note of the cuckoo is known to all the world ; the history and nature 

 of the bird itself still remains in great obscurity. That it devours its 

 parent, that it changes its nature with the season, and becomes a 

 sparrow-hawk, were fables invented of this bird, and are now suffi- 

 ciently refuted. But where it resides in winter, or how it provides 

 for its supply during that season, still continues undiscovered. 



This singular bird, which is somewhat less than a pigeon, shaped 

 like a magpie, and of a greyish colour, is distinguished from all other 

 birds by its round prominent nostrils. Having disappeared all the 

 winter, it discovers itself in our country early in the spring, by its 

 well known call. Its note is heard earlier or later as the season seems 

 to be more or less forward, and the weather more or less inviting. 

 From the cheerful voice of this bird the farmer may be instructed in 

 she real advancement of the year. The fallibility of human calen- 

 dars is but too well known ; but from this bird's note, the husband- 

 man may be taught when to sow his most useful seeds, and do such 

 work as depends upon a certain temperature of the air. These 

 feathered guides come to us heaven-taught, and point out the true 

 commencement of the season. 



